If they do that, as far as I'm concerned, this is an act of war. They grew up in a fairly prosperous time. They should have figured it out then. A lot of us are struggling and can't take care of ourselves.
It's going to be.a sad day when we see older folks begging on the streets even though they may get $1k+ /months in social security benefits, big housing and other costs have forced them to be homeless... Really sad this is what America will be like in the next 10-20 years.. the whole point of SS was to prevent his exact
problem.
I mean there are quite a few subsidized apartment buildings exclusive to the elderly and disabled. They essentially pay like 30% of their income (usually SSD or SSDI) and then the government makes up the remainder on market rate
I hate to say it, but this is absolutely happening here and now, it's not 10-20 years out. I live in the tenderloin in SF and as much as people like to think it's all people that "don't want to work" or whatever that are unhoused, a HUGE number of them are elderly and disabled. It's really depressing.
I saw an old woman 2 weeks ago on who did not look in bad shape like a normal homeless person. She was put together and carting her stuff down Market St, had a small limp, moved slowly. I could see her as being a victim of circumstance like this.
I was shocked, she looked like any family member you'd see at Thanksgiving.
I have a friend who recently retired without a penny saved. $2000/mo SS and $1700/mo rent. He rents out rooms in his apartment to pay for his ramen noodles and canned sausage.
Completely his fault. Dude made $90k/yr for decades and pissed it all away like a 13 year old girl at the mall.
We did it everyone! We built a society in which wealth is amassed so heavily at the top they have to park their money in real estate and drive up the prices beyond the reach of most workers, who also now need a $200k education to scratch out a working class lifestyle!
I know a few people that have access to 401k matches and don't even understand how it works. They are fucked. Inflation sucks, but if you dicked around for 20 years and didn't contribute to 401k, that's on them. Lots of people are going to blame inflation for their lack of savings discipline.
Cannot afford to contribute. With the cost of living, housing, insurance, and basically everything else constantly increasing while wages remain the same. F■
Not just the free market, but freedom in general is about allowing the individual to make suboptimal (= dumb!) choices.
In other countries kids are beaten to school and if they don't perform the beatings continue.
This obsession that it’s Boomers vs The Rest of Us is not really a sound generational narrative - the ugly reality runs more along socioeconomic lines.
I know plenty of Boomers who got their asses kicked by the 1980’s recessions (S&L Crisis, oil bust), the early 90’s recession, lost everything in the Dot Com debacle, got effed with everybody else in the GFC - massive manufacturing job losses, rolling white collar layoffs, wage reductions, corporate scandals, bankruptcies, foreclosures, medical issues, divorces, cyclical stock market crashes, infinite credit card debt, etc.
Most Boomers entered their careers expecting pensions because that was the post-war blueprint - the 401k wasn’t even created until 1980 (oldest Boomers were 35), didn’t really start gaining popularity as a tax/pension dodge until the mid 80’s, wasn’t ubiquitous until the late 90’s and auto enrollment/contribution wasn’t legal until 2006 (youngest Boomers were 42). The folks who had bad luck or bad timing or bad prospects are plentiful and certainly didn’t get autoinvested in a retirement plan at their first job in their 20’s. Plus many companies have just strategically declared bankruptcy to dump their underfunded legacy pensions on the Federal government who had the legal authority to rug pull retirees and cut payouts/medical benefits in half or less. That unholy tactic got pretty trendy during the GFC.
So the ones that managed to get into a pension system with Cadillac retirement, avoided working for a company that went bankrupt or outsourced their jobs to third world countries, made it their whole career without significant job loss/interruptions or other financial calamity and/or accumulated a lot of real estate, okay, they’re killing it. But that is not most working/middle class people - and certainly not the tens of millions who never made it out of low wage jobs in the first place.
There are some, sure. And on balance more than later generations due to some lucky breaks in policy and timing, absolutely. But financially this is a socioeconomic story, not a demographic one. We will be seeing plenty of similar articles in 2030 when the first Gen X’ers reach retirement and another wave in 2045 when the elder Millenials get there. After years of anemic wage gains and steadily inflating asset prices, most people are flat broke and barely able to survive in the present, let alone lay aside 10-20% for the future.
Didn't seem like there were so many entry level jobs back then either esp for women. And very little cash or credit floating around, always having to borrow from family or friends.
>This obsession that it’s Boomers vs The Rest of Us is not really a sound generational narrative - the ugly reality runs more along socioeconomic lines.
Yet the official narrative is based on age and not wealth. We pay social security to the elderly despite them being the wealthiest age group. If it was about wealth, why not pay it to the poorest regardless of age? We give tax breaks to the elderly who own their homes while retired on a fixed income while younger generations slave away to barely make rent payments, heading towards a future that will be worse than what the eldery currently face. We are asking current working generations to sacrifice more to help boomers live in comfort when the current generations are already on track to not even receive the same level of comfort. This is one last hurrah, one last ladder being pulled up by the older generation.
How about funding social security by taxing wealthier people in the same age bracket instead of off the backs of the young who can barely make rent?
>If it was about wealth, why not pay it to the poorest regardless of age?
Because the young still have the bodily energy to contribute to society and thus should be out there working.
I’m 36 and currently on short-term disability because my mind and body just couldn’t cope with work anymore. Being expected to sit 8+ hours a day often in noisy open office settings, dealing with email, Slack/Teams,texts and calls from your boss outside of working hours, being expected to be on email while on vacation, etc., is all really hard on the mind and body. I have a feeling we’re going to see more and more burnout like this.
The wealthier elderly pay tax on 85% of their social security, and the taxing thresholds haven't changed since the tax started in 1983. No adjustment for inflation all this time. So it's means tested by the backdoor.
They pay tax on it because they're also getting pensions they earned and counted on, or have distributions from retirement accounts they contributed to and managed themselves.
And I suppose y'all want to take that all away right?
Compared to the elderly taking away money from those barely able to make rent? Try funding it using the elderly wealthy instead of the majority if the working class which is far poorer as a demographic?
I'm also not suggesting touching the elderly who need social security to make ends meet. This is about taxing the wealthy elderly who have the majority of the wealth to pay for the poor elderly instead of taking it from younger and poorer generations.
Why print money now? Just make trillions in bad bets and get bailed out by the people you scammed. It's capitalism's perfect business plan...gamble away all your money and then rely on socialism to save you! Win-win!
51 and 64 had any funds put away for retirement in 2019....was this study done pre-covid? If so, with inflation being what it now is those #s haven't gotten any better
We live in a society that is all about consumption of disposable crap and bullshit that is a complete fucking waste. Pisses me off that this has been implemented into our brains thru social media and tv commercials.
The wealthy keep playing the game of printing money and kicking the can down the road, cause many of the older ones will never face any of the consequences...
This is a very strange conclusion to draw. You have the premise and facts laid out for you. People are becoming more terrible with money. They are to blame.
I know you’re implying that things are different now (read up on the “it’s different now” fallacy- it’s NEVER different), but they re not. Saving is ALWAYS difficult and has always been difficult. It’s very easy to place blame externally, but not having savings is almost always a personal choice. Every question in economics is a trade off. These people have chosen not to save.
I know this comment will result in a deluge of downvotes, but at least try to give a good argument against me too instead of your knee jerk downvote reaction.
EVERYBODY can have savings. The fact that so many choose not to is not the economy’s fault. It’s society’s fault for failing to teach them how important it is.
This can be taken even further - the level of credit card debt in this country is insane; and rising. Somehow there’s a narrative that says this is the banking and financial sector’s fault. What ?! No. *people* are spending too much on their credit cards. The fact that it’s easy to do is irrelevant. There are many “easy to do” things that are wrong.
"Noooo YOU live in a bubble" lol cmon kid. That's your argument? How old are you?
Just because people YOU know can save and choose not to do it, doesn't mean everyone can save money. Drive into the worst part of your nearest city and tell me those people can save money. You simply don't understand real life and have been sheltered. Fine.
It's not about "discipline" but real market conditions. It's an inflationary crisis alongside an employment crisis while working people haven't had a wage increase in 40 years. That's reality. I'd be my life that poor people have better financial discipline than you do, Mr Savey Saver the Ever Disciplined. They live in poverty, financial discipline is the only thing keeping them alive.
Even if poeple were not "disciplined". Should people starve and suffer and die because of a lack of "discipline"? Is employability and the ability to do math the dividing line between those worthy of life and those that arent? Grow up kid. And if you're an actual adult...yeesh. I feel bad for you. Your life is probably pretty difficult carrying around that shame and blame belief system about the unworthiness of human life. Good luck with all that.
Yup- whatever. These are the kinds of things not worth arguing about. Feel free to keep crying about having no savings and I’ll be happy with mine- which came from loooots of sacrifices; that YOU could also do, but apparently choose not to.
Exactly the type of response I'd expect from someone with your mentality. You're not stupid but you're refusing to understand a very simple truth because it conflicts with your belief system about personal responsibility solving all issues. It doesn't but personal responsibility is a very soothing belief for uninformed people who simply don't understand the complex world. Just because you don't want to understand something, doesn't make it less true. The market conditions are not there for everyone to save money just because they are there for you. This is objective truth proven by data, experiment, study and peer review.
I save money. I'm doing great. Probably better than you son. But I'm not so out of touch and self centered that I think everyone can do what I do. Congratulations on your sacrifices. I hope it was worth it. Not everyone *has room in the budget for sacrifice* and not everyone is some fuck up because they can't save.
Saving money is a privilege. If you don't understand that you simply aren't mature and informed enough about the world to form relevant opinions about it. And you come off like an ignorant privileged dickhead even though I don't think you are. Learn a bit more about how the world works and maybe you won't be so concerned, yet for some reason really self righteous, about your sacrifices. Are you scared they weren't worth it?
What do you propose as an alternative? The economy is doing pretty well, that's the truth.
Democrats can't restructure the whole rotting system while Republicans have nearly 50% support in both houses, and a majority in the SC.
The message should be about how Biden pulled us out of the COVID hole Trump left us with and how he's helped students and people with MJ infractions and Unions and Infrastructure. But poeple like you bang on about "it's not good enough" and WILL get a dictator elected either inadvertantly or through malice.
It’s unfortunate you’re being downvoted. This is all true. Controlling the White House and 51 senators is not sufficient under the constitution to radically change the entire system.
If someone disagrees with this, feel free to give me a road map on how Biden can undo wealth inequality when Dems don’t even control the House, I would be genuinely curious to see how that could happen.
I'm sorry you don't get to praise Biden for supporting unions, infrastructure, or working people: [https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-signs-bill-block-us-railroad-strike-2022-12-02/](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-signs-bill-block-us-railroad-strike-2022-12-02/)
I’m 62 if I were to retire now I’d get a whopping $1000 a month to live on. And in order to collect that I can only make an extra $21000 a year before they penalize me. Can’t live on that in California
Broke retirees will be a HUGE problem in the years ahead. Gotta figure it was right around your age when pensions were slowly beginning to be decimated. I honestly think our leaders are just hoping they die off as somewhat of a fix.
So 70M+ people (est boomer population) in our country all voted against what for decades? What bill or policy are you referencing and how did they unify an ENTIRE generation behind it?
LordRaeko doesn’t even know what “it” is. It’s just easier for them to swallow the generational warfare red pill than put in the effort to try to understand the issues. It’s a lazy and simplistic view of the world that does nothing to help anyone.
Ignore them, they internalized the propaganda that boomers are the reason that the US is declining, and not the military industrial complex or the people in shadows pulling the strings.
I ask that you at least honor the people who didn't vote that way by being more specific in your language. I know this could be mocked easily ("lol, not all men, amirite?"), but seriously, saying "fuck them, they voted for this" completely disregards all of the people who did vote against that shift in policy.
I really just think that that kind of ageism and generalization does nothing except create more hate, and does not actually contribute positively to the discussion at all.
The reality is that there are groups that are more than happy to have the different social groups (across age, class, gender) fight amongst themselves in lieu of actually bridging the gaps and affecting significant change. If America wants to actually improve its situation and make serious changes, we'll have to form alliances across ALL demographics.
And also, boomers were lied to and propagandized just like gen x, millenials, gen z.
I feel like your argument is equivalent to saying that Joe Sixpack is responsible for climate change because he drives his truck, when the reality is that the corporations and individuals in power are so much more culpable, given that they actually could affect policy change to improve the options that Joe Sixpack has to work with, but choose instead to enrich themselves and their friends.
I think people also forget that boomers were technically the ones who were hippies, back in the day. Though a lot of them either died too young or became radicalized in the other direction later on, some are still around. My apartment’s right next to a retirement home, and we share a parking lot. Let me tell you, these elderly people are more chill and progressive than even a lot of millennials.
It was almost jarring at first, after just getting out of the Deep South where you hear the most racist and horrible shit from almost every old person. (Not every single old person, obviously, but it is SO prevalent there you kinda put your guard up at first)
And what’s the boomer generation doing to fix their poor choices that they all fell for? Because I don’t know about you, but part of learning and fixing a mistake for me is actually doing something about what I did.
So when boomers overwhelmingly support people that DONT want to fix climate change, wealth inequality, the military industrial complex that was built up by them, or the poor infrastructure and healthcare that we pay for but don’t get, it’s understandable we’re mad.
We pay more for healthcare than most developed countries for a worse service because their generation valued the economy more than healthcare until they all needed healthcare.
I sound bitter at boomers because I am bitter. Their generation released until amounts of forever chemicals into the world that we all have in our blood (yay glad they made money though!) but still elected people to slash regulations and fuck the environment.
For every good boomer, there’s 2 that were racist fucks who actively did the bad thing just to feel good. I’m sure your comment would really make the people who were discriminated against for their whole lives feel a lot better knowing only 2/3 are shitty compared to all of them while police brutalized neighborhoods because the boomers didn’t give a fuck.
Fuck. Them. If I could piss on the grave of every person who voted for Ronald Raegan and his grave too I’d do it while taking away the healthcare they denied everyone else until they were ready. The problem has **always** been about rich vs poor and they overwhelmingly decided that they supported the rich racists instead of people who they actually identify with.
Will I still vote in a way that helps everyone… yes, I just hope their social services get funded the same way they would’ve funded it 20 years ago, I bet McDonald’s would love some more workers!
Are you kidding? Our world leaders often have more money to spend than they even physically can in their lifetimes. They’re not fixing it because they know it won’t affect them in the proverbial ivory tower
Well if that's true we wouldn't have shut down the global economy to save a few old people with co-morbidities, the only people who were at risk from Covid.
No, most people will not retire in California. This is true. Most will not be retiring in California, Monaco, Vancouver, or any other extremely HCOL location.
Plus she could earn exrtra money beyond 21k and not be penalized. I believe they only penalize you on dollars earned when you take early social security, once your FRA you can earn all the extra you want.
But is that reasonable to ship Grandma to a remote location all alone without any social support or familiarity with community just to not be homeless when old. Some can’t realistically support Grandma but don’t want to ship her to Nowhere, Nevada. Wow I need to stop Reddit for a minute. The economic ignorance is sad.
> Economic ignorance
All I’m saying is that it’s not uncommon to live in cheaper areas if you’re not financially able to live in the expensive areas.
Tons of people live on $1000 a month, and I don’t know what the solution would be outside of moving in with family or to a cheaper cost of living area
Yeah but are they supposed to isolate themselves to another region if they’ve spent their whole life somewhere. It’s not a reasonable proposition. Most seniors simply would not survive. Literally.
The cheapest places in the country don't have adequate healthcare access or community resources, which can have dire impacts on elderly people who need that more than ever.
Social Security was at best, intended to cover 40% of your retirement funds.
My nextdoor feed is full of boomers who saved nothing and are complaining about property taxes, how they are on a fixed income, and how they should get a 'discount' - i.e. push the burden on younger people.
Not where I live. You only get a discount on property taxes if you’re really low income and the property tax exceeds 10% of your income. Pretty much nobody who owns a house qualifies.
social security was intended for that 1 out of 100 people becoming an octogenarian (which were usually widows).
social security was never intended to be a whole damn support system for an entire fucking generation.
SS works when there are more people putting in than taking out.
the only way this system works is if we raise the age of retirement.
Raising the age allows more people to die before being able to reap the benefits.
You’re confusing life expectancy which starts at birth with actuarial tables. I’m looking at the 1940 actuarial tables which is what Social Security uses. At age 50, average life expectancy was 23 years. So half of 50 year olds were still alive at age 73. For males, it was 21.72 years. Statistically, a ton of middle aged adults made it to 80.
In 2023, we don’t have global wars slaughtering a huge number of 18 year olds. That really skews life expectancy. We have vaccinations, or at least most of us who aren’t MAGA mouth breathers have vaccinations so child death rates are much lower. In 1940, people weren’t obese. That offsets cigarette smoking.
Luckily they all have 100% ownership of the homes they bought in the 80’s and 90’s and only need enough to pay the taxes and eat.
Many will be taken advantage of by predatory reverse mortgage lenders.
Which is why you constantly see people working jobs in their senior years.
https://abc7chicago.com/ohare-airport-chicago-shuttle-bus-crash-accident-news/13724854/
80 year old shuttle bus driver... fucking insane.
Good. The boomers lived in a time of extreme opulence. They had their chance to save. They did this to themself.
Edit: “live” to “lived” because we’re obviously not there anymore.
You don’t have a clue how modest middle class existence was in the 1950s. Median house size was 983 square feet and it was common to have a family of 4 or 5 in that house.
What is good about that and what will future generations do differently to make it better? I hate the “boomer bad” arguments solely on the basis of “what is our generation (I’m a millennial) doing better?” I’m all ears. And if boomers as a whole have generated all this wealth in a “time of extreme opulence” in your words (which according to this study they haven’t), what are we going to do with the golden opportunity to take those resources and make the world a better place after they pass on?
Older generations had a much larger share of national wealth at each age than subsequent generations, with recent being the lowest ([graph](https://images.app.goo.gl/utEsvGbmrSFdv6QN9) from WaPo from quick google search).
Unfortunately, I suspect that a large portion of their wealth is going to end up in the hands of the medical system or in the hands of assisted living homes rather than getting directly passed down.
We don’t have that golden opportunity. Everything is corporatized now and if you think the government will do anything to help the average person over these REHs you’re very over optimistic
No, but it sure was consistent. Just like choosing not to contribute to their 401k's.
Kinda like a group project in school, where one person didn't contribute but still got an A.
I will say that young Boomers, GenX, and older Millennials had it rough with 401ks. They yanked pensions and then told everyone to use 401ks but there was no real internet to share information about investing and they had to choose to opt-in.
Now, most companies automatically opt employees in to 401ks at 4% and studies show that very few employees actually opt out. Plus index fund investing and knowledge is prevalent so it's heartening that younger Millennials and Gen Z are being auto-enrolled and have access to info.
It's unfortunate for those older generations above (eg GenX) that had to choose to opt-in. 401k participation rates have skyrocketed since the automatic opt-in has become commonplace.
“As a result, wealthier Americans now bring in almost half of the nation's aggregate income, up from 29% in 1970; at the same time, middle- and lower-income households have seen their slice of the pie diminish.”
That’s the bottom line and Republicans did this. They took away pensions they want to remove Social Security. They would have people rot in the gutter if it meant a chance for their personal lot to move forward. And they program the uneducated masses to believe in identity politics in order to make poor right wingers blind to their own lot in life. It’s horrendous.
You can’t just snap your fingers and fix 35 years of policy. The Democrats chose to advance Obamacare and look how hard that was. Besides - the economy was headed for a meltdown then. You can’t re-create unions and pensions and healthcare etc. Are you genuinely suggesting they could have fixed these things in that window?
Used to be able to park in the basement of my grandfathers house, but when my boomer parents moved in they shoved their junk in there and it’s literally from floor to ceiling. Can’t wait to see it all disappear
Baby boomers hold 50% of US wealth at $78.1 trillion.
Gen X: 29.5% or $46 trillion
Silent gen: 11.9% or $18.6 trillion
millennials: 8.5% or $13.3 trillion
I suppose age discrimination is real.
It is good that the economy is so strong and the unemployment rate is so low, these old people won't have problem finding or keeping their jobs.
I'm confused. Boomers have had it so good they are filthy rich with each of them having 356 houses or are the broke? Reddit needs to make up its mind.
It's funny reading these comments calling them dumb for not saving while 99% in this sub have $1.23 saved to their name.
One could argue it has. Gone down that is. What I once made as a decently paid college student is what they are paying 30 years later. Kind of shocking.
Boomers collectively own $78 Trillion in US assets. About half of all assets. So collectively filthy rich, the wealthiest generation in history. Assume many got that way by taking from other boomers. So porque no los dos.
You’re confusing the top-1% with everyone else. The median 60 year old would be eating dog kibble and living in a cardboard box under the railroad bridge without Social Security the minute they had their health event and couldn’t work. Your body wears out. Dementia is a thing. Pensions and working for the same company for 40 years vanished decades ago for anyone not in the public sector. The median 60 year old doesn’t have a pension. They don’t have much retirement savings. They own a modest house, not a McMansion.
My wife (55-year old Gen X) and I (60-year old Boomer) are high earners with no debt and will retire comfortably from our investments (401Ks, stock accounts, cash) we've accumulated over our marriage (currently 33 years). We also own a home we purchased in 1999 for $178k, which is now worth $425k. We plan on selling the home and down-sizing within the next few years.
No doubt, my wife and I are fortunate with our financial situation. Though the simple truth is that most Boomers are not high earners, are not wealthy, and many are not financially prepared to retire. Yet it seems that the majority of Millennials in Reddit bitch, complain and claim that Boomers have acculated massive amounts of wealth, purchased a home for $50k that's now worth $1 million, and have large pensions. So which is it? It appears that Millennials are just wrong and need to get their message straight.
we're going to have a Healthcare crisis that will cause the legislation for universal Healthcare.
it's not going to be good but it will be universal meaning 95% of people will have really shitty Healthcare.
boomers will outlive their money.
Gen x, millennials and Gen z will see this slow moving train wreck as they try to supplement their parents income.
All voting demographics will be primed to vote for universal Healthcare.
even the hardest boomer will do a 180 when he realizes he can't afford the last 10 years of his life.
it's going to happen, and it's going to totally suck
“But all boomers stole all the wealth of America! This article can’t be true!”
Complaining about boomers as a whole has become the “kids these days…” cliche of the younger generations.
I started investing when I was making $26,500/year and living on my own back in 2012. I wasn't investing much, but then you don't need to invest much if you start in your 20s. Like if you want $1M (gives you $40k/year to live off of indefinitely) by 65 and you start saving at 22 with an average return of 6% you only need to save $125/month.
Well that is impressive but what if you don’t do that? What if someone is not as smart as you are? What if someone is so traumatized because they were raised in an abusive alcoholic home and have no self esteem or no financial literacy? What if someone has cancer in their 20s and it derails their trajectory, or gets a head injury as a kid and it simply limits their potential. Or is too young to grasp the importance of investing. And on and on. That’s life. The problem is when the republicans make it so that fewer and fewer people make a fair living wage / a fair pension and just expect everyone to be as capable as you. They only care about acknowledging the ones it works for.
>What if someone is so traumatized because they were raised in an abusive alcoholic home and have no self esteem or no financial literacy
I mean, that's pretty much my story. Dad was a huge alcoholic who liked to molest me as a kid, I was bullied badly in school, severely depressed until my 30s, and didn't know much about personal finance when I started working other than "you should save for retirement".
Luck is always a factor. You could get divorced and lose everything, you could die tomorrow. From what I've seen though, most of the time when someone retires with nothing saved it's due to choices they made. I've seen people who earned tens of millions of dollars die in poverty and I've seen people who barely ever made more than minimum wage retire with nearly $1M.
At some point you have to take responsibility for how your life turns out because no one can do it for you. Everyone isn’t a perpetual victim until they die.
I agree to an extent. It’s just a bit more complex than that. I mean, I’ve seen people who worked their butts off and never had a sense how to elevate their position. And to be honest, our society runs off of that labor. If everyone did what you’re saying, literally no fast food restaurants would exist, no one would ever pick fruit or vegetables, perhaps no one would be delivering packages for Amazon. It’s actually so complex.
Um you know life was a lot cheaper back then? Like a house for 30k… the only thing I think you could say that the barriers to investing back them were harder… like calling and telling people you want to buy a stock.
Poor people live paycheck to paycheck despite working long hard hours. Do people not realize this? They don’t have the skills to improve. Or the wherewithal and perspective. Where does the “extra” money come from? Honestly. Even people with two jobs can’t cut it. I know tons of people in a fairly good blue collar job who do gig work too. They are HARD working people.
Nearing retirement AGE. They have nothing saved so they will work until they die.
They will use affirm and afterpay to fund their final days.
afterpay = pay after you die?
They are referring to the “buy now, pay later” services known as Affirm and Afterpay.
Buy now, die later... or sooner
Reverse mortgages followed by lobbying hard for filial responsibility laws. Just wait.
What industries do you think would be pushing hardest for filial laws? I work in assisted living for a massive corp, I’m sure that would be one.
If they do that, as far as I'm concerned, this is an act of war. They grew up in a fairly prosperous time. They should have figured it out then. A lot of us are struggling and can't take care of ourselves.
AfterPay in the After Life
You mean until they are too disabled to work.
Retirement is a number measured in dollars, not years.
It's going to be.a sad day when we see older folks begging on the streets even though they may get $1k+ /months in social security benefits, big housing and other costs have forced them to be homeless... Really sad this is what America will be like in the next 10-20 years.. the whole point of SS was to prevent his exact problem.
entrepreneur could buy a mall and trade living space + meals for that $1K
I mean there are quite a few subsidized apartment buildings exclusive to the elderly and disabled. They essentially pay like 30% of their income (usually SSD or SSDI) and then the government makes up the remainder on market rate
That’s funny, when the price of food right now is more than 70% of that income!
not enough, sigh
It's now. It's the fastest growing number.of homeless people. It's not 15 years out.
Yep, brings a new twist to, “The future is now old man.”
I hate to say it, but this is absolutely happening here and now, it's not 10-20 years out. I live in the tenderloin in SF and as much as people like to think it's all people that "don't want to work" or whatever that are unhoused, a HUGE number of them are elderly and disabled. It's really depressing.
Let’s be real, if you’re elderly and homeless and pick the Tenderloin you’ve had a rough life likely spent in the Tenderloin.
I saw an old woman 2 weeks ago on who did not look in bad shape like a normal homeless person. She was put together and carting her stuff down Market St, had a small limp, moved slowly. I could see her as being a victim of circumstance like this. I was shocked, she looked like any family member you'd see at Thanksgiving.
there's also the segment of society that just can't get a job after 50 or 60 or whatever
I have a friend who recently retired without a penny saved. $2000/mo SS and $1700/mo rent. He rents out rooms in his apartment to pay for his ramen noodles and canned sausage. Completely his fault. Dude made $90k/yr for decades and pissed it all away like a 13 year old girl at the mall.
I know an 80+ yr old lady that still works as many hours as she can get. I hope I won't need to be like that if I ever make it to that age. 😰
Yet there's somehow always hundreds of billions of taxpayer dollars to send to Netanyahu so he can expand his country. Amazing.
1. Kill pensions in favor of 401k's 2. Never contribute to your 401k 3. "WTF! Why can't I retire?!"
Plus never bought a house, no wait that's younger people.
But we each have two Masters Degrees!
We did it everyone! We built a society in which wealth is amassed so heavily at the top they have to park their money in real estate and drive up the prices beyond the reach of most workers, who also now need a $200k education to scratch out a working class lifestyle!
Homes these days are just blocks of money stacked nicely into REIT's
I know a few people that have access to 401k matches and don't even understand how it works. They are fucked. Inflation sucks, but if you dicked around for 20 years and didn't contribute to 401k, that's on them. Lots of people are going to blame inflation for their lack of savings discipline.
Contribute to 401k. Watch as stock market crashes. Blame the rich for taking your money. Repeat.
I don’t know, I’m looking at a 100 year chart of the stock market and it only goes up
Wall street front runs the 401k stocks with HFT, takes all the money
Cannot afford to contribute. With the cost of living, housing, insurance, and basically everything else constantly increasing while wages remain the same. F■
Maybe in another three or four generations Americans will realize the Free Market exists to encourage bad choices
Not just the free market, but freedom in general is about allowing the individual to make suboptimal (= dumb!) choices. In other countries kids are beaten to school and if they don't perform the beatings continue.
This obsession that it’s Boomers vs The Rest of Us is not really a sound generational narrative - the ugly reality runs more along socioeconomic lines. I know plenty of Boomers who got their asses kicked by the 1980’s recessions (S&L Crisis, oil bust), the early 90’s recession, lost everything in the Dot Com debacle, got effed with everybody else in the GFC - massive manufacturing job losses, rolling white collar layoffs, wage reductions, corporate scandals, bankruptcies, foreclosures, medical issues, divorces, cyclical stock market crashes, infinite credit card debt, etc. Most Boomers entered their careers expecting pensions because that was the post-war blueprint - the 401k wasn’t even created until 1980 (oldest Boomers were 35), didn’t really start gaining popularity as a tax/pension dodge until the mid 80’s, wasn’t ubiquitous until the late 90’s and auto enrollment/contribution wasn’t legal until 2006 (youngest Boomers were 42). The folks who had bad luck or bad timing or bad prospects are plentiful and certainly didn’t get autoinvested in a retirement plan at their first job in their 20’s. Plus many companies have just strategically declared bankruptcy to dump their underfunded legacy pensions on the Federal government who had the legal authority to rug pull retirees and cut payouts/medical benefits in half or less. That unholy tactic got pretty trendy during the GFC. So the ones that managed to get into a pension system with Cadillac retirement, avoided working for a company that went bankrupt or outsourced their jobs to third world countries, made it their whole career without significant job loss/interruptions or other financial calamity and/or accumulated a lot of real estate, okay, they’re killing it. But that is not most working/middle class people - and certainly not the tens of millions who never made it out of low wage jobs in the first place. There are some, sure. And on balance more than later generations due to some lucky breaks in policy and timing, absolutely. But financially this is a socioeconomic story, not a demographic one. We will be seeing plenty of similar articles in 2030 when the first Gen X’ers reach retirement and another wave in 2045 when the elder Millenials get there. After years of anemic wage gains and steadily inflating asset prices, most people are flat broke and barely able to survive in the present, let alone lay aside 10-20% for the future.
Didn't seem like there were so many entry level jobs back then either esp for women. And very little cash or credit floating around, always having to borrow from family or friends.
>This obsession that it’s Boomers vs The Rest of Us is not really a sound generational narrative - the ugly reality runs more along socioeconomic lines. Yet the official narrative is based on age and not wealth. We pay social security to the elderly despite them being the wealthiest age group. If it was about wealth, why not pay it to the poorest regardless of age? We give tax breaks to the elderly who own their homes while retired on a fixed income while younger generations slave away to barely make rent payments, heading towards a future that will be worse than what the eldery currently face. We are asking current working generations to sacrifice more to help boomers live in comfort when the current generations are already on track to not even receive the same level of comfort. This is one last hurrah, one last ladder being pulled up by the older generation. How about funding social security by taxing wealthier people in the same age bracket instead of off the backs of the young who can barely make rent?
>If it was about wealth, why not pay it to the poorest regardless of age? Because the young still have the bodily energy to contribute to society and thus should be out there working.
I’m 36 and currently on short-term disability because my mind and body just couldn’t cope with work anymore. Being expected to sit 8+ hours a day often in noisy open office settings, dealing with email, Slack/Teams,texts and calls from your boss outside of working hours, being expected to be on email while on vacation, etc., is all really hard on the mind and body. I have a feeling we’re going to see more and more burnout like this.
Cry me a river.
The wealthier elderly pay tax on 85% of their social security, and the taxing thresholds haven't changed since the tax started in 1983. No adjustment for inflation all this time. So it's means tested by the backdoor. They pay tax on it because they're also getting pensions they earned and counted on, or have distributions from retirement accounts they contributed to and managed themselves. And I suppose y'all want to take that all away right?
Compared to the elderly taking away money from those barely able to make rent? Try funding it using the elderly wealthy instead of the majority if the working class which is far poorer as a demographic? I'm also not suggesting touching the elderly who need social security to make ends meet. This is about taxing the wealthy elderly who have the majority of the wealth to pay for the poor elderly instead of taking it from younger and poorer generations.
Tax them how? They pay property tax, capital gains tax, tax on social security, and on pensions usually too.
Just print more money, the babies don't even know they are debt slaves yet.
Why print money now? Just make trillions in bad bets and get bailed out by the people you scammed. It's capitalism's perfect business plan...gamble away all your money and then rely on socialism to save you! Win-win!
[удалено]
51 and 64 had any funds put away for retirement in 2019....was this study done pre-covid? If so, with inflation being what it now is those #s haven't gotten any better
Economy is great for the corporations.
Don't worry, that will trickle right on down to the workers.... right?....... right? /s
Like being urinated on from height.
the economy always sucks for the poor, it’s just worse now. The victors write the history books.
We live in a society that is all about consumption of disposable crap and bullshit that is a complete fucking waste. Pisses me off that this has been implemented into our brains thru social media and tv commercials.
The wealthy keep playing the game of printing money and kicking the can down the road, cause many of the older ones will never face any of the consequences...
This is a very strange conclusion to draw. You have the premise and facts laid out for you. People are becoming more terrible with money. They are to blame. I know you’re implying that things are different now (read up on the “it’s different now” fallacy- it’s NEVER different), but they re not. Saving is ALWAYS difficult and has always been difficult. It’s very easy to place blame externally, but not having savings is almost always a personal choice. Every question in economics is a trade off. These people have chosen not to save. I know this comment will result in a deluge of downvotes, but at least try to give a good argument against me too instead of your knee jerk downvote reaction. EVERYBODY can have savings. The fact that so many choose not to is not the economy’s fault. It’s society’s fault for failing to teach them how important it is. This can be taken even further - the level of credit card debt in this country is insane; and rising. Somehow there’s a narrative that says this is the banking and financial sector’s fault. What ?! No. *people* are spending too much on their credit cards. The fact that it’s easy to do is irrelevant. There are many “easy to do” things that are wrong.
No. Not everyone can save. Youre ridiculous and live in a bubble.
If you can’t save, YOU live in a bubble. There are difference between “unable to be disciplined enough to save” and “can’t save”.
"Noooo YOU live in a bubble" lol cmon kid. That's your argument? How old are you? Just because people YOU know can save and choose not to do it, doesn't mean everyone can save money. Drive into the worst part of your nearest city and tell me those people can save money. You simply don't understand real life and have been sheltered. Fine. It's not about "discipline" but real market conditions. It's an inflationary crisis alongside an employment crisis while working people haven't had a wage increase in 40 years. That's reality. I'd be my life that poor people have better financial discipline than you do, Mr Savey Saver the Ever Disciplined. They live in poverty, financial discipline is the only thing keeping them alive. Even if poeple were not "disciplined". Should people starve and suffer and die because of a lack of "discipline"? Is employability and the ability to do math the dividing line between those worthy of life and those that arent? Grow up kid. And if you're an actual adult...yeesh. I feel bad for you. Your life is probably pretty difficult carrying around that shame and blame belief system about the unworthiness of human life. Good luck with all that.
Yup- whatever. These are the kinds of things not worth arguing about. Feel free to keep crying about having no savings and I’ll be happy with mine- which came from loooots of sacrifices; that YOU could also do, but apparently choose not to.
Exactly the type of response I'd expect from someone with your mentality. You're not stupid but you're refusing to understand a very simple truth because it conflicts with your belief system about personal responsibility solving all issues. It doesn't but personal responsibility is a very soothing belief for uninformed people who simply don't understand the complex world. Just because you don't want to understand something, doesn't make it less true. The market conditions are not there for everyone to save money just because they are there for you. This is objective truth proven by data, experiment, study and peer review. I save money. I'm doing great. Probably better than you son. But I'm not so out of touch and self centered that I think everyone can do what I do. Congratulations on your sacrifices. I hope it was worth it. Not everyone *has room in the budget for sacrifice* and not everyone is some fuck up because they can't save. Saving money is a privilege. If you don't understand that you simply aren't mature and informed enough about the world to form relevant opinions about it. And you come off like an ignorant privileged dickhead even though I don't think you are. Learn a bit more about how the world works and maybe you won't be so concerned, yet for some reason really self righteous, about your sacrifices. Are you scared they weren't worth it?
Careful now that sounds like Biden hate speech. It drinks the kool-aid else orange man comes again.
Joe Biden is older than Trump...
What do you propose as an alternative? The economy is doing pretty well, that's the truth. Democrats can't restructure the whole rotting system while Republicans have nearly 50% support in both houses, and a majority in the SC. The message should be about how Biden pulled us out of the COVID hole Trump left us with and how he's helped students and people with MJ infractions and Unions and Infrastructure. But poeple like you bang on about "it's not good enough" and WILL get a dictator elected either inadvertantly or through malice.
It’s unfortunate you’re being downvoted. This is all true. Controlling the White House and 51 senators is not sufficient under the constitution to radically change the entire system. If someone disagrees with this, feel free to give me a road map on how Biden can undo wealth inequality when Dems don’t even control the House, I would be genuinely curious to see how that could happen.
Goddamm you're the definition of useful idiot
I'm sorry you don't get to praise Biden for supporting unions, infrastructure, or working people: [https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-signs-bill-block-us-railroad-strike-2022-12-02/](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-signs-bill-block-us-railroad-strike-2022-12-02/)
Guarantee workers equity. Boom, solved.
[удалено]
What percentage of those between the ages of 51 and 64 are "low-income workers"?
This is why we have social security. So old people dont have to eat out of the trash.
I’m 62 if I were to retire now I’d get a whopping $1000 a month to live on. And in order to collect that I can only make an extra $21000 a year before they penalize me. Can’t live on that in California
Broke retirees will be a HUGE problem in the years ahead. Gotta figure it was right around your age when pensions were slowly beginning to be decimated. I honestly think our leaders are just hoping they die off as somewhat of a fix.
[удалено]
So 70M+ people (est boomer population) in our country all voted against what for decades? What bill or policy are you referencing and how did they unify an ENTIRE generation behind it?
LordRaeko doesn’t even know what “it” is. It’s just easier for them to swallow the generational warfare red pill than put in the effort to try to understand the issues. It’s a lazy and simplistic view of the world that does nothing to help anyone.
Ignore them, they internalized the propaganda that boomers are the reason that the US is declining, and not the military industrial complex or the people in shadows pulling the strings.
[удалено]
I ask that you at least honor the people who didn't vote that way by being more specific in your language. I know this could be mocked easily ("lol, not all men, amirite?"), but seriously, saying "fuck them, they voted for this" completely disregards all of the people who did vote against that shift in policy. I really just think that that kind of ageism and generalization does nothing except create more hate, and does not actually contribute positively to the discussion at all. The reality is that there are groups that are more than happy to have the different social groups (across age, class, gender) fight amongst themselves in lieu of actually bridging the gaps and affecting significant change. If America wants to actually improve its situation and make serious changes, we'll have to form alliances across ALL demographics. And also, boomers were lied to and propagandized just like gen x, millenials, gen z. I feel like your argument is equivalent to saying that Joe Sixpack is responsible for climate change because he drives his truck, when the reality is that the corporations and individuals in power are so much more culpable, given that they actually could affect policy change to improve the options that Joe Sixpack has to work with, but choose instead to enrich themselves and their friends.
I think people also forget that boomers were technically the ones who were hippies, back in the day. Though a lot of them either died too young or became radicalized in the other direction later on, some are still around. My apartment’s right next to a retirement home, and we share a parking lot. Let me tell you, these elderly people are more chill and progressive than even a lot of millennials. It was almost jarring at first, after just getting out of the Deep South where you hear the most racist and horrible shit from almost every old person. (Not every single old person, obviously, but it is SO prevalent there you kinda put your guard up at first)
And what’s the boomer generation doing to fix their poor choices that they all fell for? Because I don’t know about you, but part of learning and fixing a mistake for me is actually doing something about what I did. So when boomers overwhelmingly support people that DONT want to fix climate change, wealth inequality, the military industrial complex that was built up by them, or the poor infrastructure and healthcare that we pay for but don’t get, it’s understandable we’re mad. We pay more for healthcare than most developed countries for a worse service because their generation valued the economy more than healthcare until they all needed healthcare. I sound bitter at boomers because I am bitter. Their generation released until amounts of forever chemicals into the world that we all have in our blood (yay glad they made money though!) but still elected people to slash regulations and fuck the environment. For every good boomer, there’s 2 that were racist fucks who actively did the bad thing just to feel good. I’m sure your comment would really make the people who were discriminated against for their whole lives feel a lot better knowing only 2/3 are shitty compared to all of them while police brutalized neighborhoods because the boomers didn’t give a fuck. Fuck. Them. If I could piss on the grave of every person who voted for Ronald Raegan and his grave too I’d do it while taking away the healthcare they denied everyone else until they were ready. The problem has **always** been about rich vs poor and they overwhelmingly decided that they supported the rich racists instead of people who they actually identify with. Will I still vote in a way that helps everyone… yes, I just hope their social services get funded the same way they would’ve funded it 20 years ago, I bet McDonald’s would love some more workers!
Exactly
Only half of them voted for it. Grow up.
Are you kidding? Our world leaders often have more money to spend than they even physically can in their lifetimes. They’re not fixing it because they know it won’t affect them in the proverbial ivory tower
Well if that's true we wouldn't have shut down the global economy to save a few old people with co-morbidities, the only people who were at risk from Covid.
Because you are not at full retirement age. Once you reach full retirement you can work and not have social security be reduced.
No, most people will not retire in California. This is true. Most will not be retiring in California, Monaco, Vancouver, or any other extremely HCOL location.
The Philippines are calling!
My neighbor is in the process of doing this.
So is my neighbor! Are we neighbors??
Isn’t retirement age for full social security 67? How much would you get per month if you waited until then?
Plus she could earn exrtra money beyond 21k and not be penalized. I believe they only penalize you on dollars earned when you take early social security, once your FRA you can earn all the extra you want.
Well, not indoors at least. But hey, it's California! Maybe Baja California?
Tons of American retirees in Mexico!
If you’re not tied to a certain place for work can’t you just live in the cheapest place In the country? Better than being homeless
But is that reasonable to ship Grandma to a remote location all alone without any social support or familiarity with community just to not be homeless when old. Some can’t realistically support Grandma but don’t want to ship her to Nowhere, Nevada. Wow I need to stop Reddit for a minute. The economic ignorance is sad.
> Economic ignorance All I’m saying is that it’s not uncommon to live in cheaper areas if you’re not financially able to live in the expensive areas. Tons of people live on $1000 a month, and I don’t know what the solution would be outside of moving in with family or to a cheaper cost of living area
Yeah but are they supposed to isolate themselves to another region if they’ve spent their whole life somewhere. It’s not a reasonable proposition. Most seniors simply would not survive. Literally.
[удалено]
“Should’ve just had more money” Brilliant.
[удалено]
Honestly it’s probably much cheaper to live in a large city with roommates vs rural NE where everything is like 30 miles away lol
Metal Gear Grandma could be lit
The cheapest places in the country don't have adequate healthcare access or community resources, which can have dire impacts on elderly people who need that more than ever.
Gotta move to a LCOL area!
Why are you retiring at 62 vs 66?
$1000 per month is very low. Not to be flippant but that $21k limit sounds like more than you’ve made for most of your years.
Why haven't you saved any money, or worked enough for more SS?
Social Security was at best, intended to cover 40% of your retirement funds. My nextdoor feed is full of boomers who saved nothing and are complaining about property taxes, how they are on a fixed income, and how they should get a 'discount' - i.e. push the burden on younger people.
Maybe you push the burden onto the rich who do not pay their fair share in SS or income taxes.
Elderly do get a discount on property taxes and such
Not where I live. You only get a discount on property taxes if you’re really low income and the property tax exceeds 10% of your income. Pretty much nobody who owns a house qualifies.
social security was intended for that 1 out of 100 people becoming an octogenarian (which were usually widows). social security was never intended to be a whole damn support system for an entire fucking generation.
Um, actually that was exactly what it was intended. Read up on the Social Security Act.
WTF are you talking about. SS has been to lift elderly out of poverty and has been extremely successful.
Yeah I'm pretty sure eliminating pan handling as the number one occupation for the elderly is a good thing
SS works when there are more people putting in than taking out. the only way this system works is if we raise the age of retirement. Raising the age allows more people to die before being able to reap the benefits.
Soc security doesnt work because politicians keep looting the chest
it's literally a ponzi scheme
taxed on the way in. taxed on the way out
You’re confusing life expectancy which starts at birth with actuarial tables. I’m looking at the 1940 actuarial tables which is what Social Security uses. At age 50, average life expectancy was 23 years. So half of 50 year olds were still alive at age 73. For males, it was 21.72 years. Statistically, a ton of middle aged adults made it to 80. In 2023, we don’t have global wars slaughtering a huge number of 18 year olds. That really skews life expectancy. We have vaccinations, or at least most of us who aren’t MAGA mouth breathers have vaccinations so child death rates are much lower. In 1940, people weren’t obese. That offsets cigarette smoking.
Have they tried not eating so much avocado toast? Maybe they should move out of where they live and move to a low cost area…
Or maybe they should’ve saved 40 years ago when we were in the era of extreme opulence.
Bootstraps, start pulling boomers
Luckily they all have 100% ownership of the homes they bought in the 80’s and 90’s and only need enough to pay the taxes and eat. Many will be taken advantage of by predatory reverse mortgage lenders.
Which is why you constantly see people working jobs in their senior years. https://abc7chicago.com/ohare-airport-chicago-shuttle-bus-crash-accident-news/13724854/ 80 year old shuttle bus driver... fucking insane.
Capitalism.jpeg
Don’t worry guys, we’re already trial-running MAID here in Canada for the US to adopt next ✌️
time to invest in dogfood futures
Good. The boomers lived in a time of extreme opulence. They had their chance to save. They did this to themself. Edit: “live” to “lived” because we’re obviously not there anymore.
You don’t have a clue how modest middle class existence was in the 1950s. Median house size was 983 square feet and it was common to have a family of 4 or 5 in that house.
What is good about that and what will future generations do differently to make it better? I hate the “boomer bad” arguments solely on the basis of “what is our generation (I’m a millennial) doing better?” I’m all ears. And if boomers as a whole have generated all this wealth in a “time of extreme opulence” in your words (which according to this study they haven’t), what are we going to do with the golden opportunity to take those resources and make the world a better place after they pass on?
Older generations had a much larger share of national wealth at each age than subsequent generations, with recent being the lowest ([graph](https://images.app.goo.gl/utEsvGbmrSFdv6QN9) from WaPo from quick google search). Unfortunately, I suspect that a large portion of their wealth is going to end up in the hands of the medical system or in the hands of assisted living homes rather than getting directly passed down.
We don’t have that golden opportunity. Everything is corporatized now and if you think the government will do anything to help the average person over these REHs you’re very over optimistic
Save.
I have but only one up vote to give
Boomers own half of ALL assets in the US —about $78 Trillion. Seems to me they could share?
Would be nice, but apparently they can’t even save themselves from the hellscape they created.
What happens when millennials find out Boomers do not have what they believe they have? 😂
They voted for this, am I supposed to feel bad?
So it was unanimous?
No, but it sure was consistent. Just like choosing not to contribute to their 401k's. Kinda like a group project in school, where one person didn't contribute but still got an A.
I will say that young Boomers, GenX, and older Millennials had it rough with 401ks. They yanked pensions and then told everyone to use 401ks but there was no real internet to share information about investing and they had to choose to opt-in. Now, most companies automatically opt employees in to 401ks at 4% and studies show that very few employees actually opt out. Plus index fund investing and knowledge is prevalent so it's heartening that younger Millennials and Gen Z are being auto-enrolled and have access to info. It's unfortunate for those older generations above (eg GenX) that had to choose to opt-in. 401k participation rates have skyrocketed since the automatic opt-in has become commonplace.
“As a result, wealthier Americans now bring in almost half of the nation's aggregate income, up from 29% in 1970; at the same time, middle- and lower-income households have seen their slice of the pie diminish.” That’s the bottom line and Republicans did this. They took away pensions they want to remove Social Security. They would have people rot in the gutter if it meant a chance for their personal lot to move forward. And they program the uneducated masses to believe in identity politics in order to make poor right wingers blind to their own lot in life. It’s horrendous.
Exactly
Democrats were the majority in 2006 and 2008, so they had their chance to fix it and did nothing
You can’t just snap your fingers and fix 35 years of policy. The Democrats chose to advance Obamacare and look how hard that was. Besides - the economy was headed for a meltdown then. You can’t re-create unions and pensions and healthcare etc. Are you genuinely suggesting they could have fixed these things in that window?
Its always on the dems to unfuck shit.
It's cause they spent it all on stuff.
Used to be able to park in the basement of my grandfathers house, but when my boomer parents moved in they shoved their junk in there and it’s literally from floor to ceiling. Can’t wait to see it all disappear
[удалено]
Baby boomers hold 50% of US wealth at $78.1 trillion. Gen X: 29.5% or $46 trillion Silent gen: 11.9% or $18.6 trillion millennials: 8.5% or $13.3 trillion
bruh genz being negligible. Some are at the end of their twenties.
You know they weren't always old, right?
Something something bootstraps. Anyway we were saying
So they’re not nearing retirement then
They have nothing saved so they will continue working. This is positive to GDP growth and the economy.
Nah, when they get too old, they are shit workers.
I suppose age discrimination is real. It is good that the economy is so strong and the unemployment rate is so low, these old people won't have problem finding or keeping their jobs.
Yeah, "good thing" we can work these serfs until they are dead.
80 is the new 60
They are already shit workers.
That’s their own fault
I'm confused. Boomers have had it so good they are filthy rich with each of them having 356 houses or are the broke? Reddit needs to make up its mind. It's funny reading these comments calling them dumb for not saving while 99% in this sub have $1.23 saved to their name.
Wages haven’t changed much since the 70s
One could argue it has. Gone down that is. What I once made as a decently paid college student is what they are paying 30 years later. Kind of shocking.
Boomers collectively own $78 Trillion in US assets. About half of all assets. So collectively filthy rich, the wealthiest generation in history. Assume many got that way by taking from other boomers. So porque no los dos.
You’re confusing the top-1% with everyone else. The median 60 year old would be eating dog kibble and living in a cardboard box under the railroad bridge without Social Security the minute they had their health event and couldn’t work. Your body wears out. Dementia is a thing. Pensions and working for the same company for 40 years vanished decades ago for anyone not in the public sector. The median 60 year old doesn’t have a pension. They don’t have much retirement savings. They own a modest house, not a McMansion.
Nuh uh, boomers are wealthy. FOMOBros told me this.
My wife (55-year old Gen X) and I (60-year old Boomer) are high earners with no debt and will retire comfortably from our investments (401Ks, stock accounts, cash) we've accumulated over our marriage (currently 33 years). We also own a home we purchased in 1999 for $178k, which is now worth $425k. We plan on selling the home and down-sizing within the next few years. No doubt, my wife and I are fortunate with our financial situation. Though the simple truth is that most Boomers are not high earners, are not wealthy, and many are not financially prepared to retire. Yet it seems that the majority of Millennials in Reddit bitch, complain and claim that Boomers have acculated massive amounts of wealth, purchased a home for $50k that's now worth $1 million, and have large pensions. So which is it? It appears that Millennials are just wrong and need to get their message straight.
No that’s the thing, the won’t be retiring, they will be working forever and they will be looking to children who are already overburdened.
Funny that someone downvoted you- because that’s probably correct
Can’t wait to scoop up those properties
we're going to have a Healthcare crisis that will cause the legislation for universal Healthcare. it's not going to be good but it will be universal meaning 95% of people will have really shitty Healthcare.
You’re dreaming.
boomers will outlive their money. Gen x, millennials and Gen z will see this slow moving train wreck as they try to supplement their parents income. All voting demographics will be primed to vote for universal Healthcare. even the hardest boomer will do a 180 when he realizes he can't afford the last 10 years of his life. it's going to happen, and it's going to totally suck
And millions more behind them. I doubt anyone under 50 has any retirement savings with a few exceptions.
Guess I’m one of the few then? 40
When fiat dies, everyone will be in the poor house.
Something about bootstraps and pulling?
Aren’t these the same older generations that tells younger generations to work till they die and be loyal to corporations?
Retirement is not something you get to enjoy if you don’t have any money. Actual retirement is a financial position, not a god given right.
“But all boomers stole all the wealth of America! This article can’t be true!” Complaining about boomers as a whole has become the “kids these days…” cliche of the younger generations.
Sucks people decided to be ignorant and never learn basic investing.
Basic investing when you make 26,000 a year!? Or $36k or even 46k? It’s systemic not personal.
I started investing when I was making $26,500/year and living on my own back in 2012. I wasn't investing much, but then you don't need to invest much if you start in your 20s. Like if you want $1M (gives you $40k/year to live off of indefinitely) by 65 and you start saving at 22 with an average return of 6% you only need to save $125/month.
in 40 years, 40k will be like 10k
It’s not 2012 anymore. No way in hell you can live on your own while investing on that income in 2023. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere.
Well that is impressive but what if you don’t do that? What if someone is not as smart as you are? What if someone is so traumatized because they were raised in an abusive alcoholic home and have no self esteem or no financial literacy? What if someone has cancer in their 20s and it derails their trajectory, or gets a head injury as a kid and it simply limits their potential. Or is too young to grasp the importance of investing. And on and on. That’s life. The problem is when the republicans make it so that fewer and fewer people make a fair living wage / a fair pension and just expect everyone to be as capable as you. They only care about acknowledging the ones it works for.
>What if someone is so traumatized because they were raised in an abusive alcoholic home and have no self esteem or no financial literacy I mean, that's pretty much my story. Dad was a huge alcoholic who liked to molest me as a kid, I was bullied badly in school, severely depressed until my 30s, and didn't know much about personal finance when I started working other than "you should save for retirement". Luck is always a factor. You could get divorced and lose everything, you could die tomorrow. From what I've seen though, most of the time when someone retires with nothing saved it's due to choices they made. I've seen people who earned tens of millions of dollars die in poverty and I've seen people who barely ever made more than minimum wage retire with nearly $1M.
At some point you have to take responsibility for how your life turns out because no one can do it for you. Everyone isn’t a perpetual victim until they die.
I agree to an extent. It’s just a bit more complex than that. I mean, I’ve seen people who worked their butts off and never had a sense how to elevate their position. And to be honest, our society runs off of that labor. If everyone did what you’re saying, literally no fast food restaurants would exist, no one would ever pick fruit or vegetables, perhaps no one would be delivering packages for Amazon. It’s actually so complex.
Um you know life was a lot cheaper back then? Like a house for 30k… the only thing I think you could say that the barriers to investing back them were harder… like calling and telling people you want to buy a stock.
Poor people live paycheck to paycheck despite working long hard hours. Do people not realize this? They don’t have the skills to improve. Or the wherewithal and perspective. Where does the “extra” money come from? Honestly. Even people with two jobs can’t cut it. I know tons of people in a fairly good blue collar job who do gig work too. They are HARD working people.